First attemp at printing didn't go well

[KnockerDolt]

Hi all,

I recently managed to get a hold of a CTC 3D printer. I know it isn’t the best one but I got it second hand for £100 so I can’t complain. For my first attempt I tried to print something I found on Thingiverse however it didn’t go that well (see the attached image). Can anyone recommend how to fix this? I assume it’s the temperature however I’m not sure if it needs to go higher or lower. I’m using PLA at 190C onto a non heated bed covered in masking tape and I have leveled the bed.

[JakobGammelgaad]

It’s because you don’t have an cooling fan, when the fillament gets extruded, so it falls down. Attached a picture of mine.

[MidWestMade]

Agreed, one thing to help “cool” prints is to print two of them a few inches apart on the bed and slow the speed down to around 30-40mm/s.

[wirlybird]

Cooling fan would probably help a lot. If it doesn’t have one get a table fan or something and start it after the first layer or so.

What print speed?

What slicer?

190 temp seems ok.

Printing 3-4 at the same time can also be a way to add cooling time.

[KnockerDolt]

Thanks for the feedback. I got myself a small usb powered fan and set the speed down to 70mm/s and it seems to be printing a load better now. It still clumps up a little bit on overhangs but not by much. Probably just a case of fine tuning the speed and temp of the print.

[wirlybird]

That’s still pretty fast. I might cut that to 30 and see what happens.

[MidWestMade]

70mm/s is too fast, try 30mm/s. Also goto thingiverse and download some “calibration” files … see how those print and then you can retune your printer based on the results. I can send some links later if that helps too!

[JakobGammelgaad]

I use 70mm/s and it would grade with good overhangs and overall quality, but I installed the fan upgrade from thingiverse.

[ebam]

Hi do you have a link for the fan you have put in place to cool the print?